ECHL Florida Everblades

Four Goal Second Period Propels Blades to 4-2 Win Over Chiefs

February 27, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL)
Florida Everblades News Release


ESTERO, FL - The Florida Everblades (37-16-3) notched their seventh win in their last eight home games thanks to a four-goal second period that led them to a 4-2 come-from-behind win over the Johnstown Chiefs (31-21-3) on Saturday night in front of a spirited crowd of 5,795.

For the second straight game, Kevin Baker and Milan Gajic starred for the Everblades as Gajic picked up another three points and Baker added to his league-leading point total with a goal and an assist.

To pick up the win the Everblades had to earn it. Johnstown staked themselves to a 2-0 lead after one period of play and found themselves with 1:25 of 5-on-3 power play time and two minutes of overall power play time to begin the second period.

The Chiefs opened the scoring midway through the first period when Jarrett Konkle's slap shot from the top of the circles beat Everblades goaltender David Leggio low on the glove side at 9:09. Konkle's team-leading 28th goal of the year was followed by a power play goal by Andrew Sarauer with 36 seconds remaining in the first period and the Everblades down 5-on-3.

As the period came to a close Florida was whistled for another penalty meaning they would start the middle frame short-handed. The Everblade penalty killers came up huge, keeping the Chiefs off the board and Leggio came up with a game-changing save as the final penalty expired and he stopped Todd Griffith on a breakaway.

With the momentum gained from the penalty kill the Everblades soon found the back of the net as Colin Nicholson collected his 10th goal of the season at 3:58 after lifting a shot as he was being pulled down over goaltender Ian Keserich's shoulder to cut the lead in half. Ernie Hartlieb and Patrick Bordeleau added the assists.

The Everblades notched their lone power play goal of the night shortly after at 5:29 on a great set up by Gajic. The newest Everblade forward took a pass from Baker down low in the left circle and started walking to the front of the net before feeding a wide open Mark Lee with a pass in the slot. Lee made no mistake rifling the puck home for his 10th goal of the year.

With momentum fully on the Everblades' side, Baker notched the eventual game-winner at 11:39 of the period after muscling his shot from the slot through Keserich. Baker's lead-leading 46th goal of the year came once again off a nice set up by Gajic who dug the puck loose on the right boards. The game-winner was Baker's 10th of the year and has now notched the game-winning goal in Florida's last five games.

Late in the period the Everblades added some insurance as Gajic got in on the goal-scoring fun after forcing a turnover behind the Johnstown net and swinging to the front of the net from the left post and lifting his fourth goal in his fifth game with the Everblades past Keserich, giving Florida a 4-2 lead. The goal signaled the end of the night for Keserich as he was replaced by Kyle Gajewski for the remaining 21:39.

In the third period the Everblades clamped down limiting the Chiefs to just three shots to hold the lead and collect their third win over the Chiefs this season.

In goal Leggio notched his second straight win by turning away 22 of 24 shots to improve his record to 19-6-1. Keserich suffered his second straight loss after allowing the four goals on 23 shots, dropping his record to 11-12-1. Gajewski closed out the night stopping all 15 shots he faced.

On the power play, the Everblades finished the night 1-of-6, while Chiefs closed out the game 1-of-8.

BEWARE OF THE BITE! Action You Can Sink Your Teeth Into! Individual tickets to all Everblades home games are on sale now! Visit the Germain Arena Box Office M-F from 10-6 to purchase tickets, or order online at www.ticketmaster.com. Visit www.floridaeverblades.com and www.germainarena.com or call 239-948-PUCK for more information on group ticket packages, pricing and upcoming Germain Arena events.

The Everblades return to action on Saturday, February 28 when they host the Johnstown Chiefs at 7:30 p.m.

3 Stars:

1 - Milan Gajic- FLA

2 - Kevin Baker - FLA

3 - Doug O'Brien - FLA

Check out the Florida Everblades Statistics



ECHL Stories from February 27, 2009


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